This review can’t begin without the kind of disclosure that reveals even more than I know to reveal. Kitchen Confidential annoyed me when I read it. I was grudging. The guy could write—this fucking hack cook. Annoying. He could really write. Not only was I jealous, but I also saw it as a danger. This guy was so compelling, so romantic in his portrayal of cooks, I worried for all the young cooks about to move into this world. There couldn’t possibly be a worse role model for young chefs than the author of Kitchen Confidential, and yet the hordes were following this piper gleefully and indiscriminately (would they too like to be selling their old paperbacks at 95th and Broadway in winter for heroin money?). Also his book was more successful by far than Read On »

[Note: Shuna, aka eggbeater, has covered this subject well and honestly in many posts, notably the culinary school question. I address it in the intro to the new paperback of Making of a Chef and on my FAQ page. But when I read Bourdain’s take in his most recent book, Medium Raw, I wanted to make sure it reached as many people as possible. The kind folks at Harper Collins rarely give away more than 500 words of a book they’re charging money for; I’m very grateful to them, and to Tony, for letting me reprint it here (I’ve bold-faced piquant ideas in lieu of call-outs to keep the unmotivated enticed). I’ll review the book later in the week. But this chapter is for all the people … thinking. Moms and Dads of young cook Read On »